TWI757749B - Computer system and input device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An input device is provided, including a housing and a rotary member pivotally connected to the housing. The housing has a main body and a first electrode affixed to the main body. The rotary member has a dial portion and a second electrode connected to the dial portion, wherein the first electrode surrounds the second electrode. Specifically, the second electrode has a hollow portion that can rotate relative to the first electrode from a first angle to a second angle.

Description

Computer system and input device thereof

The present invention relates to an input device, in particular, to an input device used with a touch screen.

With the development of touch display technology and the launch of various devices (such as 360-degree flip laptops, stylus laptops, or All in One computers, etc.), most design practitioners can use Active Stylus Product design or animation production and other related work on the touch screen of the computer.

However, simply using the traditional active stylus can no longer meet the needs of some designers. In order to allow relevant professionals to operate the touch screen more efficiently, how to provide a touch screen It has become an important subject to design an input device that is convenient to use and operate by practitioners.

In view of the aforementioned conventional problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides an input device including a casing and a rotating member. The casing has a body and an annular first electrode, wherein the first electrode is fixed on the body. The rotating member is pivotally connected to the housing, and has a turntable portion and a second electrode connected to each other, wherein the turntable portion is located on a top side of the body, and the first electrode and the second electrode are located on a bottom side of the body. , and the first electrode surrounds the second electrode. In particular, the second electrode has a hollow portion, and the turntable portion and the second electrode are rotatable relative to the housing, so that the hollow portion rotates relative to the first electrode from a first angle to a second angle.

In one embodiment, the first electrode has a protruding portion protruding from one side of the main body.

In one embodiment, the turntable portion and the body are separated by a distance, and when the turntable portion is pressed by an external force, the turntable portion and the second electrode are inclined relative to the body.

In one embodiment, the rotating member further has a connecting rod and a pivot portion, the connecting rod passes through the main body and is connected to the turntable portion and the second electrode, the pivoting portion is arranged on the connecting rod and pivots. Connect to the aforementioned housing.

In one embodiment, the input device further includes a buffer element disposed between the rotating member and the main body.

In one embodiment, the input device further includes an elastic element disposed between the main body and the first electrode.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer system including the aforementioned input device and a computer device. The computer device has a touch screen and a processing unit that are electrically connected to each other, the input device is disposed on the touch screen, and when the hollow portion rotates relative to the first electrode from the first angle to the second angle When the touch screen senses the second electrode, and transmits a sensing signal to the processing unit.

In one embodiment, the processing unit transmits a display signal to the touch screen according to the sensing signal, and displays an image on the touch screen, wherein the image is adjacent to the input device.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer system including the aforementioned input device and a computer device. The computer device has a touch screen and a processing unit that are electrically connected to each other, the input device is disposed on the touch screen, the turntable portion is separated from the main body by a distance, and when the turntable portion is pressed by an external force , the turntable portion and the second electrode move relative to the touch screen, and the touch screen senses the second electrode and transmits a sensing signal to the processing unit.

In one embodiment, when the turntable portion is pressed by the external force, the turntable portion and the second electrode are inclined relative to the main body, and the touch screen senses the second electrode and transmits the sensing signal to the above-mentioned processing unit.

The following describes the computer system and the input device thereof according to the embodiments of the present invention. It can be readily appreciated, however, that embodiments of the invention provide many suitable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments disclosed are merely illustrative of particular ways to use the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It is to be understood that these terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the relevant art and the context or context of this disclosure, and not in an idealized or overly formal manner Interpretation, unless specifically defined herein.

The foregoing and other technical contents, features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings. The directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments, such as: up, down, left, right, front or rear, etc., are only for referring to the directions of the attached drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used in the embodiments are used to describe and not to limit the present invention.

First, please refer to Figures 1 to 3 together, wherein Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an input device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the input device 100 in Figure 1, and Figure 3 shows the first and second 2 is a perspective view of the rotating member 10 in FIG. 2 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 , the input device 100 of this embodiment can be used with a capacitive touch screen 200 . When the operator places the aforementioned input device 100 on the surface of the touch screen 200 , the corresponding functions A menu, a color picker or a ruler widget is displayed on the touch screen 200 and is adjacent to the periphery of the input device 100, so as to facilitate the operator to perform click operations or input commands. For example, the aforementioned touch screen 200 can be disposed on a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone or other various electronic devices, and is not limited to those disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention.

Please continue to refer to FIGS. 1 to 3 , the input device 100 of this embodiment mainly includes a rotating member 10 and a cylindrical casing 20 , wherein the hollow casing 20 has a main body 21 and an annular first electrode 22 , wherein The first electrode 22 is fixed on the bottom side of the main body 21 ; in addition, the aforementioned rotating member 10 has a turntable portion 11 , a pivot portion 12 , a connecting rod 13 and a circular second electrode 14 , wherein the connecting rod 13 passes through The body 21 of the casing 20 is used for connecting the turntable portion 11 and the second electrode 14 , and the pivoting portion 12 is disposed on the connecting rod 13 for pivotally connecting the casing 20 and the rotating member 10 .

It should be noted that the turntable portion 11 is located on the top side of the main body 21 , the first electrode 22 and the second electrode 14 are located on the bottom side of the main body 21 , and the first electrode 22 surrounds the second electrode 14 . On the other hand, it can also be seen from Figures 1 and 2 that the annular first electrode is formed with a protruding portion 221 , wherein the protruding portion 221 protrudes from one side of the body 21 .

In this embodiment, a buffer element R is additionally provided between the pivot portion 12 and the body 21 of the housing 20 , so as to avoid direct contact between the rotating member 10 and the body 21 of the housing 20 and wear. In actual operation, an external force can be applied by hand to make the aforesaid turntable portion 11 rotate relative to the casing 20 around a central axis C of the rotating member 10 (as indicated by the arrow direction in the first figure), or an external force can be applied to press down. The turntable portion 11 is used to move the second electrode 14 downward relative to the casing 20 to control the cursor on the touch screen 200 or perform a click action.

For example, when the turntable portion 11 of the rotating member 10 is pressed or rotated by the aforementioned external force, the buffer element R can provide an elastic restoring force to restore the rotating member 10 to the state shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 . In this embodiment, the aforementioned pivot portion 12 can be a ball joint, and the aforementioned buffer element R can be made of foam or rubber.

Next, please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows that when the input device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is placed on the touch screen 200 of a computer device 300 (such as a notebook computer), the first electrodes 22 and the A schematic diagram of the relative positions of the two electrodes 14 .

In this embodiment, the first electrode 22 disposed on the housing 20 surrounds the second electrode 14 on the rotating member 10 , and the second electrode 14 forms a hollow portion 141 (such as the one shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 ). The second electrode 14 can have a non-uniform and asymmetric structure, so that the touch screen 200 can sense and determine that the second electrode 14 is in the first electrode Angular orientation in 22.

As shown in FIG. 4 , when the input device 100 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is to be used, the operator can place it on the touch screen 200 of a computer device 300 . At this time, the convex surface of the first electrode 22 is The outgoing portion 221 and the hollow portion 141 of the second electrode 14 also face the left side of the touch screen 200 , wherein the first electrode 22 is in contact with the touch screen 200 but does not move relative to each other.

It should be understood that when the input device 100 is placed on the touch screen 200 , the aforementioned touch screen 200 can sense the positions of the first electrodes 22 and the second electrodes 14 , and the positions of the first electrodes 22 and the second electrodes 14 can be sensed by the aforementioned touch screen 200 . and the angular orientation of the hollow portion 141 to sense and determine the relative angular relationship between the first electrode 22 and the second electrode 14; in FIG. 4, the second electrode 14 is located at a first angle relative to the first electrode 22 .

Please refer to FIG. 5 again, wherein FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram when the second electrode 14 in the rotating member 10 rotates from a first angle shown in FIG. 4 relative to the first electrode 22 to a second angle.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the user rotates the rotating member 10 on the input device 100, the second electrode 14 on the bottom side of the rotating member 10 rotates clockwise relative to the first electrode 22 from the state shown in FIG. 4 After 90 degrees, the second electrode 14 can be rotated from the first angle (FIG. 4) to the second angle (FIG. 5). At this time, the hollow portion 141 of the second electrode 14 faces the top of the touch screen 200, and The touch screen 200 can sense the angular displacement of the second electrode 14 (rotating member 10 ) relative to the first electrode 22 (the housing 20 ), so that it can be used to control the cursor on the touch screen 200 or to execute a function menu ( Menu) or color picker (Color picker) selection command.

Next, please refer to FIG. 6 , wherein FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of an image M displayed on the touch screen 200 of the computer device 300 . As shown in FIG. 6 , when the input device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is placed on the touch screen 200 of the computer device 300 , the touch screen 200 can sense the protruding portion 221 and the hollow portion. 141 , and then a corresponding image M (eg, a function menu or a color selector) can be generated according to the aforementioned angular orientation information, wherein the image M is adjacent to the input device 100 .

Please also refer to FIGS. 7 and 8, wherein FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of the input device 100 disposed on the touch screen 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 shows that the rotating member 10 in FIG. 7 receives a A cross-sectional view of the body 21 inclined relative to the housing 20 when pressed by an external force.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , the main difference between this embodiment and the input device 100 in FIG. 1 is that the first electrodes 22 are embedded in the body 21 of the casing 20 and not in contact with the touch screen 200 . , and the first electrode 22 does not need to form the protruding portion 221 as shown in FIG. 1; 11 and the second electrode 14 are inclined relative to the body 21 of the casing 20 and the touch screen 200 .

It should be noted that, since there is a distance between the turntable portion 10 and the main body 21 of the housing 20 in this embodiment, and a distance is formed between the second electrode 14 and the touch screen 200 , when the rotating member 10 is When the turntable portion 11 is pressed by an external force, both the turntable portion 11 and the second electrode 14 are inclined relative to the body 21 of the casing 20 and the touch screen 200 . In this situation, since the left and right end portions of the second electrode 14 and the touch screen 200 have different distances, the touch screen 200 can sense the tilt direction and the tilt degree of the second electrode 14, so that the Control a cursor on the touch screen 200 or execute a click command.

Next, please refer to FIG. 9 , wherein FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of an input device 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the main difference between this embodiment and the input device 100 in FIG. 1 is that an elastic element 23 is disposed between the body 21 of the housing 20 and the first electrode 22, and the first electrode 22 may not be It is necessary to form the protruding portion 221 as shown in FIG. 1 .

Specifically, when the turntable portion 11 of the rotating member 10 is pressed by an external force (as shown by the arrow direction in FIG. 9 ), the elastic element 23 is compressed, and the rotating member 10 (including the second electrode 14 ) and the casing 20 are compressed. The main body 21 of each of them sinks in the direction of the touch screen 200 . In this way, the touch screen 200 can know whether the user performs a pressing and clicking action by sensing the position change of the second electrode 14 in the vertical direction; on the contrary, when the aforementioned external force is released, the elastic element 23 can An elastic restoring force is provided so that the rotating member 10 (including the second electrode 14 ) and the main body 21 of the casing 20 rise together relative to the touch screen 200 and return to the original initial position.

It should be noted that the touch screen 200 in the foregoing embodiments can directly detect the distance between the first and second electrodes 22 and 14 through the first electrodes 22 and the second electrodes 14 on the sensing input device 100 . Therefore, the user's operation instructions can be obtained accurately and quickly, and no battery or wireless communication module is required inside the input device 100, so that the production cost can be greatly reduced, and the general consumer can also be improved. Or the convenience of professional design workers in use and operation.

Next, please refer to FIG. 10, wherein FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10, the computer system of this embodiment includes the computer device 300 (eg, a notebook computer) shown in FIG. 4 and the input device 100 shown in any of the foregoing embodiments, wherein the computer device 300 includes a The touch screen 200 and a processing unit 400 are provided.

As can be seen from FIG. 10, the aforementioned touch screen 200 includes a sensing unit 210 (eg, a capacitive touch panel unit) and a display unit 220 (eg, a liquid crystal display unit) that are electrically connected to each other, and the aforementioned processing unit 400 It includes a central processing unit 410 , a signal transceiver circuit 420 , a signal processing circuit 430 and an analog/digital conversion circuit 440 that are electrically connected to each other.

It should be understood that once the user places the aforementioned input device 100 on the touch screen 200 , the user can rotate the rotating member 10 of the input device 100 to make the hollow portion 141 of the second electrode 14 face the first electrode 22 is rotated from the first angle to the second angle (as shown in Figures 4 and 5), at this time, the sensing unit 210 inside the touch screen 200 can sense the position and angle of the second electrode 14, and transmit a The sensing signal RX is sent to the signal transceiving circuit 420 in the processing unit 400, and then the sensing signal RX can be processed by the processing unit 400, and then a display signal TX is sent to the sensing unit 210 through the signal transceiving circuit 420. The display unit 220 of the touch screen 200 presents a corresponding image (eg, the image M in FIG. 6 ).

In one embodiment, when the turntable portion 11 of the input device 100 is pressed by an external force, so that the second electrode 14 is inclined or lowered relative to the touch screen 200 (as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 ), the touch The screen 200 can also sense the position change of the second electrode 14 in the vertical direction, and transmit a sensing signal RX to the signal transceiver circuit 420 in the processing unit 400 accordingly, so as to control the cursor on the touch screen 200 Or execute the clicked command.

Although the embodiments of the present invention and their advantages have been disclosed above, it should be understood that those skilled in the art can make changes, substitutions and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the process, machine, manufacture, material composition, device, method and steps in the specific embodiments described in the specification, and any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can learn from the present disclosure. It is understood that processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, devices, methods and steps developed in the present or in the future can be used in accordance with the present invention as long as they can perform substantially the same functions or achieve substantially the same results in the embodiments described herein. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention includes the above-mentioned process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, device, method and steps. In addition, each claimed scope constitutes a separate embodiment, and the protection scope of the present invention also includes the combination of each claimed scope and the embodiments.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone skilled in the art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, The protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the appended patent application.

10: Rotary pieces 11: Turntable Department 12: Pivot part 13: connecting rod 14: Second electrode 141: hollow part 20: Shell 21: Ontology 22: The first electrode 221: Projection 23: Elastic element 100: Input device 200: touch screen 210: Sensing unit 220: Display unit 300: Computer Devices 400: Processing unit 410: CPU 420: Signal transceiver circuit 430: Signal processing circuit 440: Analog/Digital Conversion Circuits C: Center axis M: video R: buffer element RX: sensing signal TX: Display signal

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an input device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the input device 100 in FIG. 1 . Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the rotating member 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the relative positions of the first electrodes 22 and the second electrodes 14 when the input device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is placed on the touch screen 200 of a computer device 300 . FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram when the second electrode 14 in the rotating member 10 is rotated from the first angle shown in FIG. 4 relative to the first electrode 22 to a second angle. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an image M displayed on the touch screen 200 of the computer device 300 . FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of the input device 100 disposed on the touch screen 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the rotating member 10 in FIG. 7 being pressed by an external force and inclined relative to the main body 21 of the housing 20 . FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an input device 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10: Rotary pieces

11: Turntable Department

12: Pivot part

13: connecting rod

14: Second electrode

20: Shell

21: Ontology

22: The first electrode

221: Projection

100: Input device

200: touch screen

C: Center axis

R: buffer element

Claims (8)

A computer system, comprising: a computer device having a touch screen electrically connected to each other and a processing unit, wherein the touch screen has a capacitive touch panel unit; an input device disposed on the touch screen , comprising: a casing with a main body and a ring-shaped first electrode, wherein the first electrode is fixed on the main body; and a rotating member pivotally connected to the casing and having a turntable part connected to each other and a first electrode Two electrodes, wherein the turntable portion is located on a top side of the body, the first electrode and the second electrode are located on a bottom side of the body, and the first electrode surrounds the second electrode; wherein the second electrode is an asymmetric structure with a hollow part, the turntable part and the second electrode can be rotated relative to the casing, and the hollow part can be rotated relative to the first electrode from a first angle to a second angle; wherein, When the turntable portion is pressed by an external force, the turntable portion and the second electrode are inclined relative to the body, and when the hollow portion rotates relative to the first electrode from the first angle to the second angle, the touch The capacitive touch panel unit of the screen senses the hollow portion of the second electrode to know the angle change of the second electrode, and transmits a sensing signal to the processing unit. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first electrode has a protruding portion protruding from one side of the body. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the turntable portion and the body are separated by a distance. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the rotating member further has a link and a pivot portion, the link passes through the body and is connected to the turntable portion and the second electrode, and the pivot portion is disposed on the link on and pivotally connect the housing. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the input device further comprises a buffer element disposed between the rotating member and the body. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the input device further comprises an elastic element disposed between the body and the first electrode. A computer system, comprising: a computer device having a touch screen electrically connected to each other and a processing unit, wherein the touch screen has a capacitive touch panel unit; an input device disposed on the touch screen , comprising: a casing with a main body and a ring-shaped first electrode, wherein the first electrode is fixed on the main body; and a rotating member pivotally connected to the casing and having a turntable part connected to each other and a first electrode Two electrodes, wherein the turntable portion is located on a top side of the body, the first electrode and the second electrode are located on a bottom side of the body, and the first electrode surrounds the second electrode; wherein the second electrode is an asymmetric structure with a hollow part, the turntable part and the second electrode can be rotated relative to the casing, and the hollow part can be rotated relative to the first electrode from a first angle to a second angle; wherein, The turntable portion is separated from the body by a distance. When the turntable portion is pressed by the external force, the turntable portion and the second electrode are inclined relative to the body. When the turntable portion is pressed by an external force, the turntable portion and the second electrode are inclined relative to the body. The second electrode moves relative to the touch screen, and the capacitive touch panel unit of the touch screen senses the position change of the second electrode and sends a sensing signal to the processing unit. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the capacitive touch panel unit of the touch screen senses the hollow portion of the second electrode to know the angle change of the second electrode.

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